


The sword and the stone

by szczepter



Series: KagaKuro AU Month 2017 [3]
Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-12
Updated: 2017-10-12
Packaged: 2019-01-07 14:29:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,514
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12234771
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/szczepter/pseuds/szczepter
Summary: Kagami and Kuroko travel together and find themselves in a...situation.





	The sword and the stone

The problem with being a mage specializing mostly in healing and defense magic was that Tetsuya didn’t really have many offensive spells in his arsenal.

Which normally he didn’t care for. He could go about his life not needing aggressive magic aside from a few useful spells, but the more he travelled with Kagami-kun the more he learned that he indeed _needed_ them.

This moment? He needed it more than _ever_.

“Kuroko!” Kagami’s voice mixed with the hissing of the snake-like creature which attacked them just twenty minutes ago and the sound of Kagami’s sword hitting the snakes armored scales made him frown. It was breaking his concentration.

The creature was definitely magical, Kuroko could sense it before it approached them when they were travelling and due to its size, it was impossible to escape it, although they tried.

He could deal with minor creatures, animals and bandits with his defensive magic but it would be ineffective against _such_ a beast. Same as if it was a powerful mage but for now Tetsuya didn’t want to think about this issue.

“Kuroko!” Kagami yelled again after he managed to avoid the snake spitting venom at him.

“A little help here maybe?” He grumbled as he ran away from the creature, trying to lure it away from Kuroko. “Why does it take so goddamn long!”

Tetsuya furrowed his brows and concentrated more on the energy flowing through him.

It was taking so long because Tetsuya had to cast _two_ spells simultaneously. One was a simple defense shield around Kagami, which helped him get as close to the snake as possible and the other was one of the few offense spells which _took_ time to gather. 

Even if Tetsuya trained in mystic arts since he was a toddler, it still was a challenge. Not to mention that his consciousness was split between both spells. Normally, casting two spells wasn’t a problem for him, but not only was the shield taking a bit of energy away from Tetsuya which he could use for the attack and two: it was from a different element.

So, to sum up: Tetsuya was casting two extremely different spells both in intensity and nature and on top of that he was leaving himself completely vulnerable, while the beast was strongly drawn towards powerful magic and as it seemed to _fire_ magic particularly.

He had to trust Kagami-kun to draw the beast away from him and give him enough time.

So, he was risking basically both their lives here with no guarantee that this would work. 

“Kuro-FUCK!”

Tetsuya gasped when he felt something crack in his mind. He couldn’t wait longer.

“Kagami-kun! Move!” He yelled and immediately released the spell, at the same time cancelling Kagami’s shield in the process.

Kagami managed to jump away from the incoming ball of energy, but the snake managed to spit its venom and hit his arm-piece, burning it.

Kagami yelled in pain and only narrowly managed to avoid the spell which hit the snake, making it screech so loudly Tetsuya thought he’d go def.

There was a powerful flash of orange and red light for a few seconds accompanied by the terrible yowls and screams as the creature which burned alive.

And then silence.

Tetsuya blinked away his blurry vision and when he saw that Kagami was knocked down and clutching his injured arm but otherwise alive he sighed in relief.

His body felt very heavy so he used the staff to put his weight on it and approach Kagami, but then he heard faint cracking noises and it fell apart in Tetsuya’s hand.

Oh. Well. That didn’t go as planned.

“Kuroko? You okay?” Kagami said from his place on the ground. Actually, there were two of them now. And three. And they were spinning.

Tetsuya squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head.

“Yes.” He said after he opened them.

“I am fine.” He said and suddenly tested blood on his lips.

Kagami-kun’s eyes grew big with fear.

He wanted to reassure him and made a step forward.

Kagami-kun’s panicked face blurred suddenly and then he collapsed.

 

* * *

 

 

When he opened his eyes, it was already dark.

He blinked a few times to clear his blurry vision. It didn’t do much since the stars were still swimming before he eyes.

He closed them again and listened. He could hear the noises of the animals; the sound of the wood breaking in the fire and could feel it’s warmth. He could also hear faintly bubbling noises and the sound of a spoon scrapping the bottom of a pot.

He gave himself a few more minutes, before he opened his eyes again and heavily sat up.

“Kagami-kun?” He said, his voice hoarse and his nose stuffed for some reason. His lips were dry and cracked and his head was still pounding, but at least his vision stopped swimming.

“Hey, hey, hey. Easy.” He felt hands grip his shoulders and steady him and press him against something hard.

After a moment Kuroko realized it was a tree.

A cup was pressed to his mouth and he drank the liquid greedily until he chocked.

“Calm down.” Kagami took the cup away.

Kuroko sighed and shook his head. That was a bad idea.

“Oh.” He pressed a hand to his temple. “What happened?”

“ _You_ tell me.” Kagami stood up and went over to the pot and stirred the contents.

Kuroko blinked a few times.

“What happened to the beast?”

“Dead. I think.” Kagami added some ingredients which Kuroko wasn’t able to make out even if he squinted.

“I thought you were too, but you just passed out.” He shifted and Kuroko could see the makeshift bandage on his arm where the venom hit him.

A chill passed through Kuroko and when he looked around he saw that he wasn’t wearing his usual white cloak, just the clothes under it.

“Where is my cloak?”

“You also got a nosebleed. I washed it. It’s drying.”

Nosebleed. That explained why he felt blood in his mouth even though he wasn’t directly hit.

Kagami put a bowl with chicken soup in front of him.

“Thank you.” Kuroko said and stirred the warm soup and taking a sip.

He managed to drink a bit, before he got nauseous so he put it away.

“When you’re done Kagami-kun we should move.” He said pressing his head back against the three. “The beast probably had a lair somewhere and I am afraid there can be more magical monsters nearby. Or a mage.” He really hoped it wasn’t the latter.

Kagami snorted.

“Yeah, I’m not gonna carry you and all our stuff.”

Kuroko frowned.

“I can walk.”

“Barely. And it’s dark. What are we gonna do when something attacks us?”

“I have-“ He stopped and concentrated. No, he didn’t. His energy was seriously sapped. He either took time to recover naturally or he’d need to find a source. But they were in the middle of _nowhere_.

That would teach him to not use spells not from his expertise, but then again, they didn’t have any other choice.

He was just glad he was alive. Migraine wouldn’t kill him. He hoped.

Kagami saw his realization.

“Right. We’ll camp out for the night. There’s a town not far away with an inn. We can go there tomorrow.”

Kuroko nodded. He didn’t really have any other choice.

“Besides. Your staff…” Kagami trailed off. Kuroko gave him a quizzical look.  “It shattered.” He bit his lip. “You’ll be okay?”

Kuroko blinked a few times.

“Kagami-kun you don’t really know much about magic, do you?”

Kagami grimaced and took a loud sip from his bowl.

“Well, excuse me. Not everyone can be born like you. Or my brother.”

Kuroko blinked.

“What are you talking about Kagami-kun? Everyone is born with magic in this world.”

Kagami snorted and put his bowl away.

“Then explain to me why I couldn’t even cast the simplest light spells? Ever. But Tatsuya could. So much that he is now a master mage.”

Ah the Ice Dragon. Kuroko heard of him. He never would expect that he’d be Kagami-kun’s kin though.

“Kagami-kun, please come here.”

Kagami gave him a quizzical look, but stood up heavily and took his sword for precaution. Kuroko gestured for him to sit in front of him cross-legged.

Kagami obeyed and put the swords on his knees so it would stay near.

“Please, give me your hand. Palm up.”

Kagami did and Kuroko gently put his own palm against his and closed his eyes.

“What are you doing?” He asked curiously.

“Sensing.” He said and concentrated. He felt a certain type of tingle in his whole body when he started channeling.

“It’s there.” He said and furrowed his brow. “But it’s…suppressed.”

“What is?”

Kuroko concentrated more and he felt like he was about to see more. He felt as if a ‘hand’ of pure energy reached for him and pushed him away violently.

Kuroko gasped and opened his eyes suddenly. His vision was fiery for a split second.

“What?!” Kagami jumped and grabbed Kuroko’s arms. “What happened? What did you see?”

Kuroko closed his eyes and when he opened them again his vision turned to normal.

“I saw your potential.”

Kagami let go of him.

“What?”

He was thinking for a moment, before he decided that Kagami-kun needed to know.

“I think someone put a barrier on your magic.”

Kagami just stared at him.

Kuroko sighed.

“It is extremely rare for anyone in this world to be born without magic. Everyone has it. Even if the barest hints of it. But.” He stressed. “Not everyone can use it and it eventually dies out if not trained. And not everyone was born with the ability to study magic. After all it is a difficult art.”

“So, I guess Tatsuya was blessed twice.”

Kuroko looked at Kagami from the corner of his eye.

“Are you jealous?”

Kagami shook his head.

“Nah. I couldn’t care less. It’s just that…he had magic and when he started studying it, we grew apart. I only had my stupid strength.” He shrugged.

It was true that Kagami-kun had amazing physical abilities, but how much of his strength was natural and how much was a residue of his suppressed magic.

“Kagami-kun, when where you born?”

“Huh? Oh, the eight month.”

“Fire month.” Kuroko hummed to himself. “It seems obvious.”

“What is?” Kagami asked.

“You have fire magic. But it’s suppressed. Possibly by a seal.” He frowned. “It can be very dangerous when unleashed.”

Kagami shrugged.

“Then let’s not. Everyone can be happy.”

“Not quite.” Kuroko shook his head. “It will eat you if it’s not released.”

“Eat me?”

“Yes. Consume until you’ll turn into something dangerous. It has been sealed since your infancy, and it has grown in power, instead of subsiding.” Kuroko frowned harder. There was something not right.

“So, what do we do?”

Kuroko pulled out of his contemplation.

“I can teach you how to control it.”

“I don’t wanna become a mage.”

“Do not flatter yourself.” Kuroko rolled his eyes. “I said _control_. Not teach you how to cast spells.”

Besides, fire magic was definitely way more than he could deal with, as exhibited before with the snake beast.

“Okay.” Kagami agreed reluctantly. “But how will you do without your staff?”

“Oh, that.” Kuroko blinked, surprised that Kagami who had a world-famous mage for a brother didn’t know about this. Then again, they did separate when they were children.

“The staff is not that important.”

“What do you mean?”

“The orb is a mountain crystal which acts as a conductor for magic force. But the staff itself? It’s just to hold it.”

Kagami gaped at him.

“Really?”

Kuroko nodded.

Kagami frowned. He looked disappointed.

“I’m sorry to shatter your childhood dreams.” He laughed. There were many myths about magic and spell casters. “We…I mean mages use conductors to better focus magic. Crystals or precious metals work.” He smiled a little sadly. “It’s why you don’t really see poor mages right?”

Kagami grunted in understanding.

“I see.”

“I guess I do need a new staff.” He picked up his bag which Kagami left nearby and took out his crystal from within. Kagami, farsighted, put it there. Unfortunately, it broke into smaller pieces.

“And a new crystal too.” He was hoping he could at least use this.

“So, you’re defenseless?

“Not quite.” He said and broke one bigger piece from the bigger chunk. He broke it down further into two.

“I can still use spells which do not draw on to elemental magic.” He said and took out a piece of strap and small knife from the bag.

“I can ask animals for way and assistance. I can foresee and.” He paused when he finished tying up the two pieces of crystal securely so they wouldn’t shift. “I still have healing magic.”

True they wouldn’t be able to use a shield, since that came from air, his own element. But. He wasn’t _so_ defenseless.

“What’s that?” Kagami gestured to the two pendants which Kuroko prepared.

He put them in one hand and blew gently on them before whispering a certain spell in the ancient language.

“Protective charms.” He said and gave one to Kagami.

When Kagami took it, the clear color turned crimson and his eyes widened.

“See. It wants out.” Kuroko said put his own pendant on his neck. It turned sky blue. Kagami did the same.

“Let me see your injury.” He beckoned for Kagami to give him his arm.

His arm piece was destroyed, but that could be replaced. The skin was begging to look bad and it haven’t even been a day.

“This might sting a bit at first.” He said and hovered his hand over Kagami’s injury. The swordsman indeed felt the initial pain when Kuroko casted the spell, but soon it subsided and it numbed his whole arm.

It took Kuroko longer than necessary to heal Kagami’s would and when he was done he was panting heavily and his forehead was sweaty.

“Woooha. Okay, That’s enough.” Kagami grabbed his arms again and slid him down on the ground. Kuroko’s head hit the makeshift pillow made from clothes and grass and sighed, when the world was swimming again.

Kagami gave him water and covered him with a blanket.

“Kagami-kun.” Kuroko said weakly on the verge of passing out again.

“Yeah.” Kagami said and leaned over Kuroko. The pendant slipped from under his shirt. Kuroko reached for it and slipped it back under the worn-out linen.

“Keep it always with you. Please.”

Kagami paused for a moment and then nodded.

“Will do.”

The last thing he saw before he drifted off into heavy and dreamless sleep was the blurry image of Kagami-kun cleaning his sword by the fire.

When he woke up hours later he found a clear blue crystal sitting among his personal belongings and Kagami-kun sleeping soundly by the remains of the fire.

Tetsuya picked the orb and felt it in his hand.

A small smile appeared on his face.

He had a student now.

**Author's Note:**

> fic two for week two: fantasy or sci-fi. This is a really generic fantasy snippet of something which will never gorw beyond that


End file.
